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Saturday, May 31, 2014

A Magellanic penguin walks across the Northern Pacific Gallery at the
Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach on Friday. During the month of
June the Aquarium will hold a daily Penguin Walk at 10:00 a.m. in the
Northern Pacific Gallery. The penguins will begin their walk by the sea
otter exhibit and end it by the giant Pacific octopus.

BY JEFF GRITCHEN / STAFF WRITER

Published: May 30, 2014

All photos by Jeff Gritchen, Staff Photographer

Three
Magellanic penguins waddled through an exhibit at Long Beach’s Aquarium
of the Pacific on Friday, in preparation for a new morning ritual.

During the preview, bird handlers chased the penguins as they ran
past giggling children and sea otters. The South American birds then
doubled back and stared at the giant tank full of fish and otters.
Starting Sunday, the penguins will make a daily public trek across
the Northern Pacific Gallery every morning at 10. The birds begin their
walk by the sea otter exhibit and end it by the giant Pacific octopus.

The daily penguin walk is part of the aquarium’s “Summer of Wonder” program and is included with regular admission.

The summer program includes an opportunity to make and drive a mini
underwater submarine and features new exhibits about the Southern
California steelhead and the Guam kingfisher, as well as touch tanks
with horseshoe crabs, corals and sponges.

Friday, May 30, 2014

PENGUINS have been massacred by a fox that found its way into the National Zoo and Aquarium. The Canberra zoo's director Trent Russell said the fox entered the zoo over the weekend and took several of the Little Penguins.

The penguin exhibit has been temporarily closed.

Visitors to the zoo have been asked not to question staff and volunteers about the attack, as they have found it very upsetting. "Many of them would find this difficult to talk about," Mr Russell said in a statement.

The first-ever macaroni penguin hatched at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium will be on display at the end of the summer.

Jessica Nath90.5 WESA

The parents, Zucca and Flurry, are protective of the chick and guard it from other curious penguins. Jessica Nath90.5 WESA

There’s a new bird in Pittsburgh, but instead of being giant and yellow, this one barely weighs two pounds and has a soft black coat of baby down fur. The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium welcomed its first-ever macaroni penguin hatchling May 12. Though it isn’t even a month old, lead aquarist and penguin keeper Katy Wozniak said it has become quite vocal. “Just
the sight of a chick is hilarious, you know with the huge feet, the
huge belly, but the small wings, the small, little head and it’s peeping
and peeping and chirping and chirping,” Wozniak said. “But it’s very
cool to see that, because you can already see the communication between
the chick and the parents start.”

The chick’s father, Zucca, is 15 years old, while his mother, Flurry, is 13. The baby itself has yet to be named. Wozniak
said having a macaroni penguin hatchling is not rare for most
facilities, but part of the Pittsburgh Zoo’s collection is past the age
to breed, while the others, like Zucca and Flurry, have just hit
breeding age within the past few years.

She said the zoo has a lighting cycle that the penguins use to determine when it’s breeding season. “I
will bring in buckets and buckets full of rocks, we open up the back
holding area,” Wozniak said. “I set up the platforms, just lay down the
rocks and then they come in and they start doing their little breeding
behaviors — picking up the rocks and bringing it and making their nest.”

Even though they are first-time parents, Wozniak described Zucca and Flurry as “naturals.” “They
get very protective, very attentive of their chick, so we just wanted
to give them a little bit more time to bond,” Wozniak said. “To make
sure that we’re not there to do anything, we’re just there to take care
of their chick just as much as they are, so we’ve been observing it a
lot.”

Zucca and Flurry both take part in the parenting — one
regurgitates food for the baby to eat and keeps it warm while the other
stands guard. Wozniak said they will also unite to teach the chick how to swim. “Usually
the dad will kind of stand beside the chick on the water’s edge and the
mom jumps in,” Wozniak said. “She’s vocalizing and calling to the
chick, the chick’s vocalizing and calling back to her and then you see
the dad kind of give him a little nudge, he goes in, (and) learns to
swim.”
According to Wozniak, the keepers will not know whether
the baby is a boy or girl until they perform a blood test on it in a few
years.

She said it will not be on display for the public until
the end of summer, after it has fledged and grown in its waterproof,
insulated feathers.

Pair of chicks born over weekend

May 29, 2014

NEWPORT —Newport
Aquarium announced Thursday that two king penguin chicks hatched inside
the Kroger Penguin Palooza exhibit over the weekend. The two chicks, which are not related, simultaneously began
to pip Friday evening before fully hatching Saturday morning. The
newborns shared an April 4 egg-laying date.

Each chick weighed
approximately one-half of a pound during their initial medical
examinations, appearing roughly the size of a baseball. “These
were some of the biggest king penguin chicks I’ve ever seen,” said Dan
Clady, senior biologist who oversees the animal care at the cold-weather
penguin exhibit, in a news release. “The chicks and parents are happy
and healthy. We prefer the parents to raise the chicks on their own and
they’ve taken those responsibilities seriously.”
Each
king penguin chick has a father and a mother. The first chick’s parents
are Bebe (father) and Wednesday (mother). Before it hatched, the second
chick was moved to foster parents Bubba (father) and Valentine
(mother), who are more seasoned parents compared to biological parents
Kroger (father) and Dumas (mother).

Guests can catch a glimpse of the chicks inside the exhibit as the parents of the chicks share rearing duties.

One
of the two newborn birds is a third-generation king penguin hatched at
Newport Aquarium. Its mother, the aforementioned Wednesday, was the last
king penguin hatched at the aquarium in 2010, before the cold penguin
exhibit was renovated and reopened as Kroger Penguin Palooza in March
2011.

Newport Aquarium is one of only 16 institutions in the
United States to exhibit king penguins, the second largest species of
penguin in the world with adults growing to more than three feet in
height.
The simultaneous births of two unrelated king penguins is a
rarity, the aquarium said. Over the last 10 years at Association of
Zoos and Aquariums institutions in the U.S., there has been an average
of only 14 king penguin hatchings annually.

NEWPORT
Two fuzzy, baseball-sized king penguins hatched at the Newport
Aquarium, and parents and chicks are healthy and happy, biologists
report.

The aquarium announced the news Thursday morning after
observing the chicks and their interaction with their parents since
Saturday morning. The two are the fifth and sixth penguins born at the
aquarium since it opened 15 years ago.

The chicks, which aren't
siblings, started to pip – or chip away –at their eggs Friday evening
and poked out and fully hatched Saturday morning. "These were some of
the biggest king penguin chicks I've ever seen," said Dan Clady, Newport
Aquarium biologist in charge of the animal care at the cold penguin
exhibit.

(All Photos: The Enquirer/Patrick Reddy)

Each chick weighed about one-half pound, according to records of their medical exam. Foster
parents are caring for one of the chicks, because its parents weren't
particularly good at caring for their egg after it was laid. The
parents' main job is to keep their egg – and then, their chick – warm
and safe by keeping it on their feet and tucked under their bellies.

The
dads – including the foster dad – are most engaged with the chicks,
Clady said. They took the lead in incubating the eggs on their feet and
under their bellies about 90 percent of the time. Once the chicks began
to pip, dads turned over the hatching to moms, but since then, the dads
again have been at the forefront of care. "We're going to let the parents do everything, if possible," Clady said. The
chicks let their parents know if they're hungry with a low, deep chirp.
They'll poke their heads out from under the caregiver's belly and then,
mom or dad will provide a little bit of regurgitated food, Clady said.

You can see the chicks now at the aquarium – if you're observant and a little lucky. "They're
on exhibit all the time. If people come over they'll have to be
patient," Clady said. The chicks chirp for food about every 20 to 30
minutes. The two share an April 4 egg-laying date, said Jeff Geiser, spokesman for the aquarium.

King
penguins Valentine (the foster mom) and Bubba (foster dad), cared for
their foster egg and are taking good care of the their little chick,
Geiser said. The biological parents of this chick are Dumas (mom) and
Kroger (dad).

The other chick is a third-generation king penguin
hatched at the Newport Aquarium. Its parents are Wednesday (mom) and
Bebe (dad). Wednesday is the last chick that hatched at the Newport
Aquarium, in 2010, Geiser said.

If you want to help choose names
for the pair, go to Facebook and search Newport Aquarium beginning
Friday. The aquarium will have several choices – all of which are
"famous duos," Geiser said.

The aquarium won't know the sex of the chicks until they lay eggs themselves – or don't.
The
simultaneous hatching of two unrelated king penguins is a rarity,
Geiser said. Over the last 10 years at Association of Zoos and Aquariums
institutions in the United States, there have been an average of only
14 king penguin simultaneous hatchings annually.

The Newport chicks were in the Kroger Penguin Palooza exhibit when they hatched.

Newport
Aquarium is one of 16 institutions in the United States to exhibit king
penguins. Kroger Penguin Palooza has nine adult king penguins, as well
as chinstrap, gentoo, macaroni and rockhopper penguins. A sixth penguin
species, the African black-footed penguin, is also on exhibit at Newport
Aquarium in the Penguin House.

King penguins at a glance

•
With their fluffy brown appearance, king penguin chicks look so
different from adult king penguins that early explorers described them
as an entirely different species, the woolly penguin.
• King
penguins are among very few birds that don't build nests. Instead, they
incubate their eggs under the belly on top of their feet.
• King penguins are the second-largest species of penguin in the world, with adults growing to more than 3 feet tall.
•
King penguins can be found in the waters of the sub-Antarctic. They
breed on many of the sub-Antarctic islands, such as South Georgia,
Crozet, the Falklands, and the islands southeast of Australia and
southwest of New Zealand.

The endangered white-flippered penguin (korora), a sub-species of the
little blue penguin only found around Banks Peninsula (including Quail
Island) and Motunau Island, breeds on Quail Island every year. Ten
penguin boxes were constructed by scholars in the carpentry class at
Cathedral College and placed on the island to encourage nesting in 2000.

Not long after that the Trust embarked on a pest eradication
programme (using trap boxes supplied by the College) and the first
penguin survey in 2001 after predator control measures were in place
revealed eight active burrows (up from five in 1999). A second survey in
November 2003 found 32 active burrows. The significant increase over a
two-year period suggests that the pest eradication efforts led by
Trustee, Mike Bowie of Lincoln University, has made a significant
difference in providing a safe habit for breeding pairs of blue penguin.

A further 20 penguin boxes were placed on Quail Island in 2007 – the
year the penguin population on the island reached a peak of 41 active
burrows. Active burrows were down to 29 in 2010, following the first
earthquake – although the low count could have been compounded by
missing burrows in the long grass. The annual surveys have not been
carried out since the February 2011 earthquake due to risk from rock
fall.

A number of nest boxes were damaged or destroyed by rock falls during
the recent earthquakes. The Trust is in the process of placing new nest
boxes on the island. A number of nesting boxes are up for adoption.

Friday, May 30, 2014

There’s
plenty of excitement in Ocean Journey. Five pairs of penguins
spent the month of May building nests and laying eggs. Our aviculturists
are currently monitoring the progress of six eggs. Right now, the count
is split down the middle with three eggs from each species.

Macaroni
penguins typically lay two eggs, but the first one is almost always
smaller and quickly discarded by the parents. One scientific explanation
for this behavior is that the first egg may serve to distract
predators, giving the second egg a better chance at survival.

In contrast, Gentoo
penguins may lay up to two viable eggs each year. With a couple of
Gentoo pairs still building nests, there’s a chance for more eggs this
season.

As much fun as egg watching is this time of year, we are always careful
to remember that, “You never count your penguins before they hatch.”
Inexperienced parents can be rough on eggs (and chicks) and sometimes
they get damaged or neglected for unknown reasons. Our experts want the
birds to develop their parental skills. Therefore, aviculturists
carefully monitor each pair and their eggs. If all goes well, there may
be some baby penguins to enjoy watching.

In the meantime, we look forward to keeping you updated throughout the
season. You can also watch the penguins’ activity in real time with our Penguin Rock Cam.

A Charles Sturt University bird expert who has just returned from her
12th Antarctic expedition says penguin species are being forced south
due to ice melt.

Ornithology expert Dr Melanie Massaro has at least one
thing in common with her main research subject, the Adelie penguin -
they both keep moving south. The Charles Sturt University lecturer began her career in Canada,
studying northern hemisphere sea birds, before moving to New Zealand and
then Australia to focus on Antarctica.

She has just returned from her 12th trip to Antarctica, where her
current focus is on the Adelie penguin, which is being forced south due
to melting ice at the Antarctic Peninsula. Dr Massaro's first contact with Antarctica came in 1998, when she began working as a nature guide on a tourist boat.
Most of the two day journey, which began at Ushuaia on the southern tip of South America, was occupied by seasickness. "We hit the Drake Passage at midnight and it became really, really rough," she said. "The next morning I got up and literally looked out the windows and I
saw my first albatross which was fantastic but I was ... so sick that
entire day."

Upon realising that most sea birds resided in the southern
hemisphere, Dr Massaro took a job at New Zealand's Otago University,
before a meeting with some American researchers moved her focus to
Antarctica. She's now part of a program looking broadly at the effect of climate change on Antarctica.

As part of the work, the group sleeps in tents similar to those used
on Scott's expedition 100 years ago, and must walk 30 to 45 minutes to
the penguin colony each morning. Dr Massaro said Adelie penguins were an indicator species, described
by a colleague in a book as "the bellwether of climate change."

"All of the penguin species are actually declining," she said. "Overall, we should be concerned."

Adelie penguins number are booming in the chilly western Ross Sea.

Last updated 24/05/2014

KARL DRURY/FAIRFAX NZ

BELLWEATHER: Adelie penguins number are booming in the chilly western Ross Sea.

Penguin numbers in Antarctica are plummeting, but in the
western Ross Sea - part of New Zealand's territory - there are more
adelie penguins than at any time in the past 30 years. Deidre Mussen
explores the reasons - and why we need to care.
Freezing air bursts into the helicopter as Peter McCarthy leans out
on its skid to photograph adelie penguins breeding below on Antarctica's
Ross Island. "It gets pretty cold," admits a ruddy-checked McCarthy, Antarctica
New Zealand's programme support supervisor, who is roped to the chopper
for safety.

From the air, the birds appear as regularly spaced black blobs that
dot the icy terrain, where they snuggle eggs on rocky nests. Over the course of a week, McCarthy aerially photographs 21 of the
22 adelie penguin breeding colonies in the western Ross Sea area,
including along Victoria Land's remote coastline and some offshore
islands, such as Ross Island, home to New Zealand's Scott Base.
Back in New Zealand, his shots are later fed into a computer, which
has a specialised programme to count the black blobs, although human
counters double-check penguin numbers visually.

The just-released final tally for last summer's census is a whopping
1.3 million adelie pairs, or 2.6m breeding birds, the most since the
joint Antarctica New Zealand and Landcare Research penguin census
project started 30 years ago.

That includes the Cape Adare colony, home to the largest adelie colony in Antarctica, with 428,516 breeding pairs. "That's a real huge boost, considering continent-wide there are
about 4 million breeding pairs," Landcare Research scientist Phil Lyver
says.

Yet-to-be-published American research indicates the western Ross Sea
has about a third of the world's adelies, based on a census across the
entire Antarctic continent. The population has averaged about 855,000
breeding pairs over the past three decades.

Penguin research, says Lyver, isn't all about cute fluffy animals.
"We're trying to use the penguins as what we call sort of a bellwether,
an indicator species for the ecosystem, and so, to do that, we need to
understand well how does the ecosystem or the changes in the ecosystem
actually influence the birds here."

Scientists believe changes in penguin numbers can alert the world
about Antarctica's health as global warming and fishing affect its icy
environment.

Fishing in Antarctica is also big business, and has been implicated
in changes to penguin numbers elsewhere on the continent.

When New Zealand's adelie census began in the 1980s, population
numbers were high in Ross Sea colonies but started declining in the
1990s.

In 2000, the world's largest iceberg, B-15, broke off the Ross Ice
Shelf and part of it grounded to the north of Ross Island, near a large
adelie colony at Cape Bird, where it stayed for several years.
It had a major impact on penguin breeding because it forced them to
travel too far to find food for their chicks, causing breeding success
to plummet.

However, population numbers started increasing again once the iceberg floated away.
The penguin story is vastly different on the more northerly
Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Sea, where populations have dramatically
reduced during the same period, according to international research.
That has been blamed on a combination of reducing levels of sea ice
because of rising temperatures and lower levels of krill, on which the
penguins feed. These factors may be driving the surge in penguins in the
Ross Sea area, Lyver says.

While sea ice extent and duration have decreased significantly
around the peninsula over the past three decades, it covers a much
larger area in the Ross Sea and lasts three months longer than 30 years
ago. "Sea ice is important in food productions and also as a platform
that allows the penguins to rest. It also gives security as the sea is
calmer within sea ice areas," he says. It is also vital as a krill creche, where baby krill develop into
penguin's favourite food. Studies clearly show krill abundance decreases
in direct proportion to sea ice vanishing.

Ultimately, Lyver says, more research is needed to link biological
sciences, such as New Zealand's adelie census, with physical studies of
factors like sea ice and climate, to truly understand what is going on
in the part of Antarctica nearest and dearest to New Zealand.

Scientists working at Cape Bird colony on Ross Island noted that
early snowfall and high winds probably had an impact on the birds'
breeding last summer, which had a success rate about half that of
"normal" years. Warmer weather means more snow will fall in Antarctica, and that directly affects the adelies' breeding success, he says.

They breed on land in nests made of rocks, unlike emperor penguins,
which lay in midwinter then balance their eggs and chicks on their feet
to keep them warm. More snow affects adelies' ability to keep their eggs warm. "It chills the embryo and kills the developing chick." Once the weather warms, snow melts and causes more problems for the
colony as the freezing water also cools eggs and can wash away eggs and
drown chicks.

Ironically, catching toothfish may help penguins because toothfish
are the top predator and their decrease means fewer silverfish are
eaten, which penguins also enjoy. However, krill fisheries may be
impacting on penguin numbers in other parts of Antarctica because they
remove an important penguin food.

Lyver warns that booming adelie numbers may be deceptive. "An
ecosystem where adelie penguins are going well is not necessarily a
healthy one. It's not wise to assume that increases in numbers means
that it is healthy. "It's easy to think everyone is Happy Feet down there. OK, adelie penguins are a bellwether, but a bellwether of what?"

It’s time to celebrate - one of Kelly Tarlton’s royal residents
is having a birthday! Toddy the King Penguin is turning 26, and
everyone’s invited to join the party at Kelly Tarlton’s SEA LIFE
Aquarium.

Celebrations will be held on Saturday 31 May to Monday 2 June, from
2pm-3:30pm. There will be games, fun activities, birthday cake -
including a special ice cake for Toddy - and a special prize each day
for the best birthday card brought for Toddy!

So make sure you clear your calendars this coming Queen’s Birthday
weekend, and head on down to Kelly Tarlton’s on Tamaki Drive to
celebrate Toddy’s birthday.

For more information, visit www.kellytarltons.co.nz. Book online for the best prices.

The
Toledo Zoo’s resident African penguins will spend Memorial Day weekend
settling into their new home after Friday’s grand opening of Penguin
Beach, the zoo’s new $3.5 million habitat for the birds.

Meanwhile,
officials at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak are preparing to break ground
June 17 for their own new penguinarium, called the Polk Penguin
Conservation Center. The exhibit is projected to cost roughly $29
million, according to zoo officials, and about $24 million already has
been raised. It is slated to open in late 2015. “This
is not simply another zebra exhibit or bison exhibit,” said Ron Kagan,
executive director of the zoo. “This is a standalone, huge facility that
will significantly add to the zoo experience.”

Jeff Sailer, executive director of the Toledo Zoo, said the facility has twin motivations for giving its penguins a new home. “This
was something we were happy to be able to add to the zoo to give a new
experience to the public,” he said. “But it was equal parts about
providing a new and better habitat for our birds.”

The exhibits up the ante in a friendly, cross-border rivalry between the zoos, which are just over 75 miles apart. Both
have spent millions of dollars over the past several years upgrading
facilities and adding amenities aimed at boosting attendance, which
topped 2.1 million between the two zoos last year.

Penguins are cute enough as they are. But when I first heard ‘penguin
parade’, I had even cuter images in mind—penguins in costume, tall
hats, waddling down the road, waving and smiling. But of course, that
wasn’t exactly how it panned out on Phillip Island, but it was as
delightful as it could be.

Phillip Island is about 140 km from
Melbourne, a two-hour drive. As we set out, it’s quite a race with the
sun, because we have to be there by sunset. That’s when the tuxedoed
fairy birds are expected back home.

The fairy penguins, also
called little blue penguins, are found along the coasts of southern
Australia and New Zealand. They are small with greyish blue plumage, and
hence the name. These birds head out into the sea at daybreak and don’t
return till sundown. They fish, hobnob with friends and even rest on
the waves. And so amusing is their homecoming that tourists flock to the
shores to watch them return home.

We drive through kilometers of
grazing land without spotting a single human being, through little towns
and past several ‘land for sale’ boards that remind you again and again
how sparsely populated and vast Australia is. Isolated farm houses
offer fresh scones and cream, while the towns typically seem to have
only one diner, a convenience store, and a shop selling surfing
equipment.

Summer days are long; the sun sets at around 8.30 pm,
gloriously too at that. Darkness had set in at 9 pm when we arrived at
the penguin viewing area on Summerland Beach. Rushing through the
turnstile, past souvenir stores choking with penguin memorabilia, we
come out on to a boardwalk that leads to the beach. On the sand, tiered
wooden seating that runs down all the way to the beach is the place
where you can sit and watch the birds come ashore.

Seagulls dot
the beach, wanting their share of attention. Eventually, the stars of
the evening start appearing in clusters, emerging from the dark waters
in flashes of white and silver. They wait for a while by the seashore,
take stock and slowly waddle along up the coast, home to their burrows.

We
are fascinated by one little guy who is waiting alone by the shore,
watching the waves. When a new group of penguins arrives, he rushes
excitedly to them. They have a long discussion in penguin language, one
presumes. The newcomers toddle on while our pal continues his wait.
Another loner joins him. They exchange a couple of squawks, stand around
awkwardly, and then part ways with the newcomer walking off. Concerned
as we are about the lone watcher, we leave him on his vigil and go back
up the boardwalk to get closer looks at the penguins.

The
boardwalks are built along the paths that the penguins take to their
burrows. Fascinated, we follow different groups. The birds obviously had
a great day of fishing because they have returned with visibly full
tummies. Some seem so tired that they resemble sleepwalkers. Others are
so full that they struggle to clamber up those last few steps up the
slope towards the burrows. Some are holding hands, or rather, flippers.
The night is filled with their quiet chirruping and occasional squawks.
The occasional hare and kangaroo can be spotted in the vicinity. The
penguins are used to the lights, the crowds and the squeals of delight
from children. They parade on oblivious to the people watching them.
Visitors considerately speak in hushed tones, letting the silence of the
night and the sounds of nature take over. Photography and videography
are not allowed, though there will be that one pesky tourist who tries
to sneak a selfie.

Apart from the penguins, Phillip Island has
other attractions to spend a day on, like the koala conservation centre,
bird watching, beaches and even a Grand Prix circuit. If you aren’t a
penguin person, Phillip Island will surely understand.

After eight months in care, a rare species of New Zealand penguin has
been returned to the sea where it was discovered on the far south coast
of New South Wales. The yellow-crested, black-and-white Fiordland crested penguins grow
to about 60cm in length and weigh just a few kilos as adults and are
threatened with extinction.'

The male penguin was found lying amongst the rocks at Tura Beach,
NSW, last September where it had washed up thoroughly exhausted and
suffering from a large injury on its left leg. The bird was taken into specialist care by Janine Green, a Sea Bird
co-ordinator for WIRES, who spent the following eight months consulting
with experts and government agencies to ensure it received the best care
available.

'Bro' as he was affectionately known, received fluids and antibiotics
during the first three weeks of recovery and along with vitamins and
other nutrients, he gained weight and built up strength. The injury on
his left leg healed to the point that the penguin was waterproof enough
to enjoy a shallow swimming pool.

Bro is only one of five Fiordland Crested Penguins to ever come into
care in NSW and was eventually introduced to a large salt water swimming
pool where he began catching his own fish and showed all the signs of
being able to reach a full recovery.

Little is known about their breeding habits as they generally nest in
thick vegetation in temperate rainforest in southern New Zealand.
Before release, Bro was microchipped and may be able to provide
scientists with unique insights into the species behaviour.

Bro was released near Ben Boyd National Park where he was able to
join a current that will take him out to the ocean, and hopefully, to
his home territory in New Zealand.

Live Blackfooted Penguins in HD - Monterey Bay Aquarium

Aquarium of the Pacific Live Penguin Cam

Listen to the Gentoo Purr

The Torgersen Island Penguin Camera

The Penguin Camera is located on Torgersen Island (64°46’S, 64°04’W), off the coast of Anvers Island and less than a mile from Palmer Station. Torgersen Island is home to a colony of Adélie penguins numbering approximately 2,500. This camera is seasonal and operates primarily from October to February, the Adélie breeding season. The camera is solar-powered and may sometimes experience brief outages due to inclement weather. School classrooms and other educational demonstrations will often take control of the camera, moving it to gain better views of the colony.